The selection of Dr. Lily D. McNair as Tuskegee University’s eighth president is being hailed by university community members as precisely who the institution needs to ensure its future legacy in higher education.
Following a unanimous vote by the Board of Trustees, Tuskegee administrators and others welcomed McNair’s appointment as president this week, noting her prior academic service and commitment to students.
“Dr. Lily McNair is exactly what Tuskegee University needs at this time,” said Burt Rowe, a 1970 graduate and president of the Tuskegee National Alumni Association. “She is a highly qualified senior academic administrator. She comes highly recommended by other presidents of universities, including her own current president at Wagner College.”
McNair is provost and senior vice president for academic affairs at Wagner College in Staten Island, NY. Beginning July 1, she will join the ranks of Tuskegee presidents, making history as the first permanent woman president to lead the institution in its 136 year history. The line of presidential predecessors includes legendary educator and thought-leader Booker T. Washington, the institution’s founder and first president.
“I am honored and humbled to be selected to serve as the eighth president of Tuskegee University,” McNair said. “The historic contributions of the university’s students, faculty and alumni are well known and valued throughout the nation. I very much look forward to building on the legacy of my predecessors so that Tuskegee University will ascend to even greater heights in the years to come.”
Trustees chair John E. Page emphasized the board’s confidence in McNair, saying that she “brings to Tuskegee the precise skill set required to ensure we continue thriving as one of the nation’s leading HBCUs.”
Rowe, who also served on the presidential search committee, praised McNair for her “great interpersonal skills,” integrity and “high degree of energy” that, he said, will help Tuskegee progress.
